The Thing About the Truth
by Avril Lambert
Summary: Principal Rourke looks back and forth between Jim and Meg. "Mr. Hawkins, we have one young man in the hospital and one that is being detained. This all seems to come down to the two of you; but mostly you, Jim. So, please explain to me what happened." Jim straightens up in his seat. "Principal Rourke, I think in order for this to all make sense, we need to go back a couple months."


**NOW:**

Jim Hawkins shifts uncomfortably in the plastic chair. His stepsister, Meg Korso, is sitting a couple chairs down from him. He doesn't look at her, though he can tell she's trying figure out a way to say something to him. He has no interest in hearing what she has to say to him. Nothing she can say would make things better.

Out of the corner of his eye he sees her lean forward and rest her elbows on her knees. She sighs and starts picking at the hole in her jeans. Part of Jim feels bad that's she here in the first place; this is definitely his fault. Well, partially his fault. He didn't start it, but she wouldn't be here if wasn't for him. Still, he'd be lying if he said seeing what happened to her hadn't given him some satisfaction.

Jim steals a glance at Meg. A small pile of blue thread has gathered on the floor by her foot from her picking nervously at her jeans. She's wearing a black t-shirt knotted just above the waist of her jeans, showing off her thin stomach; the collar of the shirt had been cut off, so part of it drapes off her shoulder, revealing her red bra strap. Her dark brown hair is hanging loosely over her shoulders. When she brushes her hair back, Jim catches a glimpse of her black eye. He smiles to himself. Yeah, she definitely deserved that.

Meg looks over at him. His smile fades and he drops his eyes. She swivels her body so she's facing him. "Jim, will you please talk to me?" her voice is hushed.

They're sitting outside of the principal's office and Principal Rourke is a hard ass. If he heard her talking, it would only get them in more trouble.

Jim shakes his head. "I have nothing to say to you."

"Then just listen. I know I-"

Jim turned sharply towards her. "You fucked up, Meg!" he hissed. "You knew what you were doing, you knew it would hurt me, and you did it anyway."

"Jim, that's not true."

Jim leaned back in his chair, resting his head against the white-painted brick wall. He closes his eyes. "Just shut up, Meg."

Meg stares hard at her stepbrother. They grew up together. His dad left while his mom was still pregnant. A year after he was born, his mom met Meg's dad. Meg is the same age as Jim and remembers nothing about that time. Her older brother, Sinbad, was four at the time. Six months after meeting, their parents got married. They were, for all intents and purposes, a family. Never once had Jim or Meg referred to each other has stepbrother or stepsister. Jim was her brother and they have always been close. Never once in their eighteen years had Jim ever talked her like he was now. Meg deserves it, she know she does. But, it still hurts.

Meg gets up and sits down next to Jim. She gently takes his face in her hands and forces him to look at her. His face is cut up and bruised and there's dried blood on his bottom lip from a cut. There's a crescent shaped bruise under his eye. The sight of his face makes her angry and breaks her heart.

"Jim, I _am _sorry. I never wanted to hurt you."

Jim shoves her hands away from him. "But you did."

"I know I did. I'm a horrible sister." Meg wraps her arms around herself. "I don't know why I did it. I mean, I know _why_ I did it; but I don't know why I did it to _you_."

"I don't want to talk about this right now."

"I want to make this right, Jim."

Jim glares at her. "You can't."

"Let me try."

Jim leans towards her and lowers his voice so Principal Rourke won't hear him from the other side of his office door. "Do you have any fucking idea how bad I feel right now? Do you understand what I'm going through? Do you even care?" He slowly shakes his head. "Of course you don't. Because even after all this, the only thing you care about is clearing your guilty conscious."

Meg can't help staring at her brother in shock. "How can you say that? Of course I care; you're my brother and I love you."

Jim snorts in derision. "You have a funny way of showing it."

Meg opens her mouth to say something, but the door opens and Principal Rourke steps out. He stares them down before addressing them. "Mr. Hawkins, Miss Korso; come into my office."

Jim and Meg stand up and walk into the office. Principal Rourke closes the door behind them, then sits down at his desk. Jim and Meg take their seats in the chairs in front of his desk. Principal Rourke folds his hands on his desk and leans forward.

"I'm assuming the two of you know why you're here," he says. Meg and Jim both nod. "Good. Then let's get right to it." He turns his attention to Jim. "Mr. Hawkins, what happened today?"

Jim's careful not to look at Meg, but he can feel her eyes on him. She's not really in any danger of getting in trouble. She's more of a witness to what happened; though it's no secret Principal Rourke doesn't really hold her in high regard.

Principal Rourke looks back and forth between Jim and Meg. "Mr. Hawkins, we have one young man in the hospital and one that is being detained. This all seems to come down to the two of you; but mostly you, Jim. So, please explain to me what happened."

Now Jim looks at Meg. She's nervously picking at the hole in her jeans again and nibbling on her lower lip. It did come down to the two of them; but neither of them started it.

Jim clears his throat and straightens up in his seat. "Principal Rourke, I think in order for this to all make sense, we need to go back a couple months…"


End file.
